Trapped
by Capriccioso
Summary: AU. Watanuki has been enslaved by an evil war lord as a cook. *sorry about typing errors*
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: xxxHolic does not belong to me. So don't you even think it.

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Watanuki stumbled around the kitchen, hastily trying to prepare the meal that was expected of him. He hurriedly pulled one of the pots off the range on his way to the cupboard, as it had been threatening to boil over. He pried open the door with his foot and pulled out a container of thyme with his two available fingers not holding the pot. He then shut it with his hip as he turned to put the pot, which was now burning his hand, on the counter-top. He only had a little time before he knew the master would become angry, and it had taken him two broken fingers and a sprained wrist to realize how much he didn't want the master angry. He quickly poured the contents of the pot into a bowl, sprinkling it with the extra seasoning as he did so, and then rushed to pull out the bread that was baking.

Sighing in relief, he pulled out the perfectly browned bread and set in on a plate next to the soup. A commoner's meal (no doubt it would be complained about later), but after that earlier run in with one of the mansions many ghosts, he'd hardly had the time to prepare a feast. He'd just have to deal with a reprimand later, rather than the severe punishment of not performing at all.

He sunk to the ground, breathing heavily as one of the serving maids came in to get the meal. That had been a close call. As difficult as it was to make a meal with one hand, it would probably have been harder the next day with none. No doubt his other appendages would have been soon to follow. The serving maid nodded at him and then took the platter.

Even though it had been rushed, he was certain that the meal would be no less than mildly appetizing. After all, that's what he'd been brought here for. Forcefully taken away from his house in the village and the friendship of the lovely Himiwari. And not to mention the abundance of dead spirits haunting this god-forsaken dungeon, crawling around and moaning in those awful ways. It was enough to make his hair stand on end everywhere he went. Not that it bothered anyone else. It seemed he was the only one they plagued. That sounded like just his luck. He pulled himself up with his good hand and surveyed the mess around the kitchen. At least he wasn't in charge of the cleaning, one of the maids would take care of that.

He walked outside the kitchen and proceeded to walk down to his own quarters. He made a mental note to request for the possible services of an assistant. He tried to go over an argument in his head to make it seem like a good idea. He could ask the butler about it. No chance he would ask the master. He shivered at the thought of the punishment that he would get for making a request.

He made his way to his room and opened the door. The room was built for two people, but it was still pretty small. Luckily, he had the room to himself. The master preferred female servants, and the butler, as a trusted actual employee, got a nice sized room of his own. He dropped himself careful of his hand onto his inch-thin mattress on the floor. The accommodations were about as nice as the master himself, not that Watanuki expected anything else. He had barely gotten himself comfortable when the expected knocking came. The door opened and a dark-haired maid stood there, looking at the ground.

"The master would like to see you."

Watanuki tried to dampen the feeling of hopelessness forming in his chest and pulled himself up. He knew this wasn't going to be a pleasant encounter.

He followed the maid to the rather large dining room and tried to keep his head down as the saw the looming figure of the master at the head of the table. He was a large, fairly ugly man with dark hair with a spray of gray. Looking at him from physical aspects, there was no clue to suggest the evil inside, but Watanuki knew all to well what cruelty he was capable of. He bit his lip nervously and kept his he firmly cast at the floor. He'd seen enough blood over the past three weeks for a lifetime.

"Is this some kind of joke, Watanuki?" came the surprisingly high-pitched, almost childlike voice.

"Sir?"

The master picked up the spoon out of the soup and let it drip into the bowl. "Is this poor excuse for a meal actually meant to be my dinner." He dropped the spoon back into the bowl and stared at Watanuki's downcast head.

"I'm sorry, sir." Watanuki spoke tonelessly, amazing the words came out without tripping over themselves.

"Why, Watanuki," the master sighed exasperatedly.

Watanuki forced his voice out again and then began to ramble. "It's… just… really hard to function in the kitchen on my own and I its hard to always know where everything's at after the maids clean up and I have trouble to tending to so many dishes at once and my hand—"

"Silence!" barked the master. Watanuki winced.

"I do not care to hear your excuses. If this happens again, you'll lose more than just your hand. Consider this a warning." He shrugged his hand, signaling Watanuki's permission to leave. Watanuki sighed inwardly and quickly made his exit, all too happy to be out of the imposing man's presence. He gratefully started to make his way to his room. The way he saw it, the meeting could have gone a lot worse.

Before he had gotten down the hallway he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and attempted to slow down his racing heart. It was only the butler. He was a thin, balding man with a face you forgot as soon as you looked at it. He was a quiet man, but he didn't seem like a bad person.

"This really should not happen again," he spoke without emotion. Watanuki assumed that whatever trouble was made around the mansion, the butler got a far share of the blame.

"I'm really sorry, this was my fault," Watanuki apologized. The butler nodded.

"If I find some assistance, would that keep this from happening anymore?"

Watanuki nodded vigorously. "Yes sir. It would help greatly. It's really hard to do all of the work on my own."

"I shall look into the matter." And with that, the man stalked off. Watanuki silently cheered. This way, if he was bothered by those awful spirits, his assistant could help with the matter of cooking. And hopefully that would help Watanuki keep his limbs. He stalked down the hallway and into his room. It was amazing how happy such a thing made him. It was this terrible place. Somehow, he vowed to himself, he'd get out of here. No matter how long it took, he'd find a way.

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So, chapter one. This is my first ever fic. Ever. Please no flames. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Hah! I'm going backwards before I go forwards. This is some kind of weird torture for everyone.**

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Three weeks earlier…

For five days and nights, the soldiers had stalked the village. They were here on rest from a battle on the way back to regroup at some sort of base. The little village knew nothing of the war and nothing of the great tortures and battle that weren't really that far beyond their little bubble of the world. They preferred to live their lives and die in peace as a community, untroubled by the worldly politics. Even so, they could not keep the soldiers away for fear of losing their families. It was a farming village, not a fighting village.

The soldiers were cruel and merciless and had no qualms against using every resource the village had to offer. Even if they had little resources to begin with. They took what they wanted of the livestock, crops, and especially the alcohol. Everyone of the five nights they'd get raucous and noisy and generally caused the whole village anxiety. But again, no one stood against them, especially in their drunken state.

Watanuki stood out in the cold shivering. He could see his breath billowing out in front of him in the pale moonlight like some kind of misty cloud, but he dare not leave his precious Himawari behind. How could he even think of doing something like that! He looked in front of him and saw her sneaking around the building.

She tiptoed towards the back entrance of the pub. Watanuki didn't see the need of tiptoeing, the soldiers were making enough noise to be heard a mile around, but of course he didn't argue with Himawari. He simply followed her as they got himself mentally prepared for what he was about to do.

It was a simple plan really. Sneak in, take the medicine, sneak out. The danger was in the fact that almost all of the soldiers were already in there, coming, or passed out from drunkenness outside. But it was the only way. Every other medicine store had been used up by now for the many injuries that had been caused over the past few days. And that child needed it. There was no way they could just leave.

Himawari grabbed the doorknob and Watanuki made a move to follow in behind her, but she put a hand on his chest.

"It'd be easier if only I went," she whispered quietly.

"There's no way I'd let you go by yourself into all that—"

"It'd be too hard for two people to sneak quietly by unnoticed. You know it would," she said as she smiled sadly.

"Fine. Then I'll go. I can go in and get the stores out the back—"

"Sorry Watanuki," she interrupted quickly as she slid into the door in closed it. Watanuki gasped and tried to turn the knob, but found it was locked. He stomped on the ground and silently cursed himself for being so slow. Now Himawari was in danger and he was out her sulking in the cold. Stupid Watanuki!

He paced back in forth, waiting impatiently and blowing in his hands. All he could hear was intoxicated bellowing and the occasional sound of breaking glass. That did little to relax him.

Suddenly there was a crash and a small yelp. Watanuki felt his panic rising and grabbed the doorknob frantically turning it in hopes it would change its mind and open. All of a sudden, as if some kind of miracle, there was a click and the knob began to turn. He felt a rush of relief in his throat, then it fell back down to his stomach as Himawari came barreling out.

She grabbed his arm and pulled him and he got the message quick. They ran as fast as they could in the opposite direction. But as they ran, Watanuki turned and got a glance at the tallest man he'd ever seen. He had a scar running down his left cheek and a furious expression on his face. Watanuki decided to double his pace.

When they had safely got away, they dropped to the ground, panting from exhaustion and anxiety. That had been one of many close calls over the past five days, but it had undoubtedly been the closest. Watanuki stood up and peered over at Himawari.

"Who did that to you!" he demanded loudly. There was a red mark across her cheek that would surely be blue in a couple of hours. Himawari attempted to cover up her cheek with her hand.

"Its not anything, Watanuki," she said, smiling, "Just a scratch." Watanuki started fuming and made a move to turn back. Himawari grabbed his wrist.

"Please, Watanuki."

Watanuki looked at her and sighed. "Did you get the medicine?" Himawari looked at him, then stared at the ground.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't get it. I dropped it while I was running in the bar." She looked absolutely stricken at what she had done. She turned and started to make her way back to the collective resting area. She assumed Watanuki would be soon to follow. She was wrong.

* * *

Watanuki peered around the building. It had quieted down since earlier, but it was still filled with constant noise. He would have felt fear at what he was going to attempt, much like earlier, but he was still filled with the rage of Himawari's injury. He quickly approached the door and slipped inside.

The air inside the room was the same amount of cold, but somehow staler, like the room had been left untouched for a while. He walked across the creaking boards stepping lightly. He certainly didn't want to be overheard.

He looked in the corner of the room and saw the large cupboard that was the stores. Surely there'd be enough for the child and then some if he managed to raid it. He quickly grew impatient and stepped forward to fast. The plank he had stepped on creaked loudly in complaint.

Watanuki froze in his tracks, scared at what had just happened. Had anyone heard that? Was someone heading this way this minute. He stood still for a couple of more seconds and then relaxed. Apparently, no one had heard him. He breathed a sigh of relief and then continued on.

As predicted, the inside of the cabinet was full of medicinal herbs and remedies. This was perfect. He quickly grabbed as much as he could carry in his two arms. There was so much he could bring back! There was the salve and the lotion and the—

Suddenly an arm snaked around his middle, then one around his neck. He panicked and dropped the medicines and began frantically tugging at the arm around his neck. He felt heavy breath on his ear and knew suddenly it was the tall man with the scar.

"Back again already?"

He yelped and panicked and bit the man's arm. He let go in surprise and Watanuki dropped to the floor. Watanuki quickly crawled towards the nearest door to him. Which led right to the main room. Where all the soldiers were sitting around waiting for him. Oh shit.

"So boys, what should we do with this one," said the tall man as he walked up behind him. "He was trying to steal from us earlier. Hard-headed on that is." The whole room laughed and started yelling out rather painful suggestions. Watanuki felt his fear starting to fade into hopelessness."

"Hey. Wasn't the boss looking for some kind of replacement?" jeered one of them. The tall man stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"Come to think of it he was. A cook in fact. Last one had an unfortunate accident." The man then smiled as if he had made a very funny joke.

"Can you cook?" asked another one of the men, this one sort of short, as he poked Watanuki with his foot.

"Aye," the tall man answered. "I've seen him running around fixing those awful peasants gruel." In fact, Watanuki was right now the villages appointed head cook. Watanuki suddenly regretted his decision to accept that job.

"Well, that settles it. We can sell him," said the short man. Watanuki was suddenly shocked out of his despair.

"Hey! You can't just talk about selling me! I have a right to—" Suddenly Watanuki felt something very hard make contact with the back of his head. All he remembered after that was the sound of his own skull making contact with the hard wood floor.

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**So, second chapter up. Hopefully on the next one, I'll go forwards. **


	3. Chapter 3

Watanuki felt himself starting to wake up. He held his eyes tight shut in an attempt to make himself go back to sleep. The sooner he woke up, the sooner he'd have to face another dreadful day. It was working to. That is until he realized there was a reason he woke up.

Something was poking him in the shoulder. He groaned and turned over on his side. Unfortunately that didn't help. The questionable object then started poking him in the back. He groaned again, turned back over, and snatched the offending object when it tried to poke him again. He realized it was really warm, and then pulled it against him. He hadn't felt anything this warm since he had gone into servitude. He snuggled against it.

"Oi."

Watanuki ignored the sound.

"Oi."

He continued to ignore the annoying sound.

"Can I have my arm back?"

Watanuki opened his eyes. He looked up and saw two amber eyes staring at him. The two amber eyes belonged to a dark-haired, broad-shouldered person about the same age as him. Attached to this person was a lightly tanned arm, which was currently in Watanuki's possession. Which he was currently snuggled up against. Which was bad.

Watanuki screamed and jumped up off his mattress on the floor. He continued to breathe heavily, staring at the man who was still kneeling beside the mattress.

"Hey," said the man in a questioning tone.

"WHO IN THE WORLD ARE YOU!!" screamed Watanuki. The man plugged his ears with his fingers.

"You're too loud," he announced.

"I believe I have a right to be!! What are you doing in my room!"

The man waited a few moments to see if Watanuki was done, then unplugged his ears and spoke. "I'm you're assistant."

"Assistant?" Watanuki repeated.

"Assistant," the man confirmed. Watanuki deflated.

"Why in the world were you poking me?" he asked cautiously.

"I was tired of waiting for you to wake up. I didn't expect you to molest my arm," he said tonelessly. Watanuki blushed.

That is not my faul— I mean I was not!!" Watanuki screeched. The man plugged his ears again.

"Whatever…" he said without emotion. Watanuki blanched. This was not working out that well. He quickly tried to regain his composure, sat down, and cleared his throat.

"My name is Watanuki Kimihiro. You can call me Watanuki."

"Doumeki Shizuka."

Watanuki felt somewhat annoyed at the lack of response. He got the feeling this Doumeki didn't used anymore words than absolutely necessary. Watanuki had wondered why he'd never seen the man around earlier, but Doumeki seemed like the type of person that didn't like that much attention. He was probably one of those weird shadow lurkers. One of those weird people who snuck around in the shadows and avoided people but were really weird perverts that—

"Oi."

"My name's not 'Oi'," snapped Watanuki.

"Why are you staring at me?" said Doumeki, ignoring the statement. Watanuki blushed when he realized he had been staring.

"I wasn't doing it on purpose!" sputtered Watanuki. Doumeki just shrugged.

"Whatever you say…"

"I WASN'T!!"

Doumeki started plugging his ears again. Watanuki decided then and there that he probably wasn't going to enjoy having an assistant as much as he thought he was.

* * *

Morning wasn't so bad. Watanuki and Doumeki made it to the kitchen and Doumeki watched Watanuki cook breakfast. Watanuki cooked a simple meal of ginger porridge, and got Doumeki familiar with everything. Doumeki said nothing, just nodding when Watanuki paused to show him where a particular spice was. One thing Doumeki was apparently good at was listening.

After breakfast was prepared, Watanuki decided it would be a good idea to go for a walk. His legs were somewhat stiff from his lack of exercise lately, and he figured it'd be a good idea to get a lay of the land, so to speak. At least, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

"Stop following me."

"No."

Watanuki felt his hairs prick up in anger. "Why not?" he asked through gritted teeth.

"Don't want to," was the simple reply. Watanuki repeatedly banged his head against the nearest wall.

"So you're not going to leave me alone?"

"Looks like it."

Watanuki fought the temptation to rip the nearest painting off the wall and fling it at Doumeki's head. Barely. Instead just stormed off very angrily.

This continued for a little while. Watanuki walking fast, frantically trying to get away. And Doumeki somehow looking like he was walking normal speed, but matching the pace. This frustrated him even more.

"Oi."

Watanuki ignored him.

"Oi."

Watanuki ignored him again.

"Oi—"

:MY NAME'S NOT 'OI'!!"

"Do you know where you're going?"

"Yes, of course I do!!!"

A pause. "Are you sure?"

"If you don't think I know where I'm going, stop following me!!" Doumeki fell silent once again and Watanuki felt a smug satisfaction. That is, until he looked around and realized he didn't know where he was. That sent him back into his bad mood. Not that he was about to let Doumeki know he was lost. He was still trying his best to get rid of the jerk through the winding passageways of the mansion.

The hallway they were now in was dark, dank, and completely made of stone. It felt too much like a dungeon for Watanuki to be quite comfortable with. He rubbed his arms as he moved along, trying to retain some heat. The torches on the sides of the hallway in front of the many doors did nothing to keep away the cold.

His stress levels were slowly rising. Down here where he didn't know where he was, spirits could be lurking anywhere. The feel of Doumeki's eyes constantly on his back didn't help improve matters either. If they got lost for a while or in trouble, Watanuki couldn't help feeling somewhat guilty. But it wasn't his fault! He didn't tell that big idiot to follow him! He even told him not to! If Doumeki got himself lost stalking him, well so be it!

Watanuki then stalked off extra-fast around the next corridor. To his surprise, and despair, there stood (or rather floated) one of the many dead spirits. Watanuki barely had time to think "Damn it!" before the angry ghost was upon him and he was passed out on the ground.

Watanuki felt himself in a half daze when he started coming to a little. He felt his body pressed against something extremely warm and pleasant. Too sleepy to remember the last incident where he felt something this warm, in his hazy, half-awake state, he pressed himself even closer to the source of the heat. After the bone chilling cold of the ghost, this warmth was wonderful. He willed himself to fall back asleep and enjoy the sensation while he could.

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**Soooo, chapter 3. Somehow I feel this is going way to fast. Oh well, at least this will give me some experience. The more I write, the better I get, right?**

**Sorry if I'm not able to update for a while. I'm going to be really busy starting tomorrow. I'll try my hardest to make some time for this!**


	4. Chapter 4

So. This floating feeling was really nice. Just drifting along in the sunshine. Flying along in the sky. It was a nice feeling. He could feel the sun's rays on his skin and the billowing white clouds around him. A little ways away there were some dark clouds, but they were no where near him. He was safe right here. Yeah, this was really nice. Way better than that dank old castle—

Watanuki slowly opened his eyes, realizing he was screwed out of that dream big time. He looked and saw the corridor ceiling. Still dark. Still made of rock. Still above his head impeding his escape to the outside world. Lovely.

He turned his visage to the left. Hmmmm. A sideways version of the stone wall. The torches flickered mischievously, threatening to almost go out. Well, if the wall was sideways, he must be horizontal. So that's it. He had passed out.

He turned to the remaining side, his left. A shirt? That's weird. His eyes followed the shirt up to the broad chest, and then to the stern face. Wow those were some golden eyes. Very sharp and deep. What was that guy's name again… Doumeki was it?

Watanuki realized a couple of things in quick succession as the aftereffects of the fainting began to wear off. One, he was apparently alive. He could pretty much guess that this wasn't the afterlife. Unless he had went to hell. Then this made perfect sense. Doumeki, creepy castle, etc. He decided not to dwell on that possibility.

Two, the ghost was no longer there. If it was, he would be feeling some sort of bone-chilling freeze. That always happened when a ghost was touching him. He certainly wouldn't be feeling this comforting warmth…And after the observation of the warmth, realization three came into his mind.

His current residence was now in Doumeki's arms. He was cradled carefully and gently almost like he could break any second. This activated another part of his brain momentarily, but it shut back down again due to a system overload.

"Why am I in your arms?" he asked curiously.

"You fainted," Doumeki replied simply.

"Oh," said Watanuki, sounding somewhat satisfied. He looked back at Doumeki.

"So why am I still here?"

Doumeki shrugged.

"No reason then?" asked Watanuki.

"None that I can think of."

Watanuki carefully pulled himself up before his brain finally allowed itself to function properly. The result wasn't pleasant.

"Oi. Why are you doing that?"

"No reason," said Watanuki smiling pleasantly. He continued beating his head on the hard stone wall. Maybe the pain would knock out some of his misery.

"Suit yourself," shrugged Doumeki. Watanuki continued his self-inflicted torture.

"So what attacked you?" asked Doumeki. Watanuki looked up momentarily to think up an excuse.

"Nothing attacked me. I just felt weak because I skipped a meal."

Doumeki stared at him. Watanuki felt Doumeki's eyes boring into his own. Its amazing some people can convey thoughts without saying anything.

"I'm not lying! You don't have to believe me!"

Doumeki continued to stare at him. Watanuki turned to face the wall so he would have to meet the gaze, but it was no use. He could feel his eyes like a laser beam on the back of his head. He tried ignoring it for a total of about five seconds, then cracked.

"Fine! Alright!" said Watanuki sarcastically, "I can see dead spirits floating around the place and they see me and sometimes they stop for a little chat. Only this time the spirit was a little angry at me for some strange reason! He just saw me and thought 'Hey! Why don't I kill that person there since he can see me!' What the hell do you want from me!" Watanuki gestured his hands in the air for some unknown reason and rolled his eyes. Doumeki looked at him slowly, then nodded.

"What?!" Watanuki gasped, "You believe that?"

"Sounds the most likely thing to me," he replied simply.

"But... Spirits? You actually believe in spirits?"

"I see no reason not to. Even if I've never seen them myself, I do not believe the people who do are liars."

"You've met people like that than me?" asked Watanuki flatly.

"I grew up in a family of exorcists," said Doumeki as he got up off the ground and dusted himself off.

"Wait, what? Exorcists?" said Watanuki incredulously.

"Yeah."

"So they could see the spirits as well as get rid of them."

"Yeah."

Watanuki wondered about the amazing convenience of being able to banish the evil spirits at will. Instead all he got was the stupid vision and attraction.

"So wait," asked Watanuki. "Your whole family can see spirits, but you can't."

"That's about it."

"So do you repel spirits?"

"I guess so."

_Well, that would make sense_, thought Watanuki. How else could he have gotten away from such an angry spirit so easily? This idiot here was the exact opposite of him! He had it perfect and he didn't even know it!

"So was there anything wrong with you?" asked Watanuki curiously.

"Don't think so."

"No side effects or anything?"

"I couldn't go into the family business," shrugged Doumeki.

"So what kind of job did you have?"

"Not cooking," said Doumeki tonelessly.

Watanuki stopped to consider something. Then he asked a question.

"How long have you been here?"

"A couple of hours now."

Watanuki's heart sunk into his stomach. "You weren't here before."

"Nope."

"They made you come here?"

"Rather forcefully."

Watanuki felt guilt wash over him. He's automatically assumed they take someone else from the mansion staff to assist him. He didn't think they would have brought in someone new like that. If he wouldn't have been so selfish as to ask for an assistant the guy in front of him might still be free of this hellhole. Watanuki pressed his hand to his forehead in shame.

"I'm the one who requested an assistant," he said quietly. Doumeki raised his eyebrows slightly.

"If I wouldn't have done that, they wouldn't have taken you here," Watanuki continued looking at the ground. It's my fault."

Doumeki observed him for a few seconds, then said expressionlessly, "It sure is." Watanuki looked up confusedly.

"Wait, what?"

"It's your fault," Doumeki repeated. Watanuki stood still for a second while he processed the statement.

"You jerk!!" he yelled. "I'm here trying to apologize and you're acting like a like I selfish idiot! I take my apology back! You can't have it! And I'm officially not talking to you!"

Doumeki shrugged indifferently and proceeded to walk down the hallway. Watanuki followed reluctantly. If this big jerk could keep away spirits, he'd need to stay near him for a little while, as miserable as that would be. Watanuki groaned at the future prospect.

It was only when they were halfway back to his room did Watanuki realize he hadn't figured out what Doumeki had done for a living.

* * *

**Soooooo... Next chapter. Sorry I take so long to update. The next one probably won't be coming quickly either. I shouldn't put so much on my plate at one time like I always do. ;**


	5. Chapter 5

Watanuki was having that dream again. He'd had every night sense that time he'd passed out in that a hallway. The dream where he was floating in the sky where nothing could touch him. Except far away there were those dark clouds. They were slowly getting closer. Every night he dreamed they would get a little bit closer. It was perplexing. Maybe he should go see what they were? He looked towards the clouds, intending to go inspect them but suddenly heard a click…

Watanuki sat up in his bed and looked to the door, startled. Doumeki stood beside the door with his hand on the knob looking like he just came back from somewhere. Watanuki inspected him closely. His breathing was minutely faster than normal and his skin contained a dim flush. That was odd…

"Where have you been?" Watanuki said narrowing his eyes. Doumeki looked at him expressionlessly as normal.

"Bathroom. Would you like the details too?" he spoke as if he didn't care either way. Watanuki paled.

"Gah! You've just ruined my mind's eye!" said Watanuki clutching his head. Countless _unwanted_ scenarios ran through his brain as he quickly tried to clear it. Doumeki shrugged and walked over to lay down on his futon across the room from Watanuki's. The crazy person's painful moaning didn't bother him one bit.

Watanuki sighed as is agonizing thoughts died down. Of course Doumeki would have to share rooms with him; he was his assistant after all, it seemed only natural. Not that this made Watanuki any happier about it. At least twice a night the blockhead would get up to use the bathroom and he _always_ woke up Watanuki. If Watanuki didn't know he was a light sleeper, he might've said Doumeki was doing it on purpose to annoy him. Stupid Doumeki….

"Oi."

"My names not Oi!" he answered automatically.

"Stop fuming and go back to sleep."

Of course that made Watanuki fume even more. It was a while before other of them got back to bed.

* * *

Dinner had been very successful. Minimum mess…. Minimum problems…. Minimum time constrains after starting early…. Minimum Doumeki annoyance. …It had been a very productive evening. He even managed to get out early while Doumeki cleaned up the mess since he had done a majority of the work. Perfect! 

He marched happily down the hallway with a smile on his face. He probably even had time for a nap before he had to start supper! The day was going wonderfully. He skipped past the master's war room without a thought ignoring the voices within.

"Yes, there seems to be a spy."

Watanuki froze mid-skip.

"There had been some sort of information leakage no doubtedly coming from an infiltration inside the castle," said the high-pitched but definitely male voice coming from inside the room. The master.

"I expect you to be on your guard and aware of any, and I mean any at all, strange behavior."

"Yes, sire," same the reply. This voice was the butler's.

"So far the guards have managed to narrow it down somewhat. The only possible suspects could be from the gardening staff, a traitor from the guards, or the cooking staff."

Watanuki barely suppressed a gasp.

"Start studying the cooking staff first. They are quite obviously the smallest. If you see any sign of a traitorous attempt from either of them…" the master paused, "kill him."

Watanuki let a sharp intake of breathe and then covered his hands over his mouth in shock.

There was silence in the room. Nobody came out swinging. Apparently for now he was safe. He had to stop himself from letting out a sigh of relief…

Suddenly he felt a hand covered his face and grabbed his arms from behind. He had thought too soon… He was doomed now.

The captor pulled him around the corner forced himself and Watanuki into a nearby closet not a second before the war room flung open and the master came out swinging a sword. Watanuki could hear his cursing from inside the door. How come his captor hadn't turned him in instead of hiding him? Watanuki looked up at the person holding him.

And of course it was that insufferable oaf. Doumeki.

Watanuki took advantage of Doumeki concentrating on the sounds outside and pulled his mouth free from Doumeki's grasp.

"You—" Watanuki started. Doumeki's eyes widened about a fraction of an inch as he quickly clamped his hand on the source of the noise and drew Watanuki closer to where he couldn't move.

"Do you want to get us killed," he whispered softly into Watanuki's ear. Watanuki mentally told that big idiot off but bit his tongue and said nothing. Dying here wouldn't be a good idea.

"There's no one here, sire," he heard the butler say from outside the walls of the closet.

"Do not doubt me," growled the master. "I know I heard something out here."

"Perhaps a rat?" was the reply.

He heard the master growl again, but apparently he had given up on it.

"Double the guard. I'll make this spy wish he had never been born."

"Yes sire."

There was a shuffling of feet outside as the two men made their way to whatever their next destination. Watanuki let go of a breath he hadn't known he had been holding and relaxed his tense body. That is, until he remembered where he was.

He jumped back away from Doumeki and successfully knocked his head on something in the dark closet. He held his head cursing Doumeki… He had probably somehow done this on purpose.

"Idiot…" he could mentally see Doumeki rolling his eyes even though it was pitch black. Watanuki was outraged.

"What do you think you're doing shoving me into an old musty closet and holding me hostage like—"

"Would you rather have been executed as a spy?" Doumeki said raising his eye brows imperceptibly.

Watanuki muttered something inaudibly with an irritated look on his and Doumeki took this as a "no."

"Next time be careful when you eavesdrop."

"Well what were you doing there?" asked Watanuki accusingly.

"Minding my own business until I happened to see a certain idiot about to get killed."

Watanuki flushed embarrassedly, and then mumbled something quietly.

"What was that?"

Watanuki glared at him and then quickly mumbled it again.

"Still can't hear you," said Doumeki tonelessly.

"I SAID THANK YOU, YOU BIG JERK!!" Watanuki yelled and then stormed out of the closet into a rather flustered maid. Bright red now, he apologized and continued rapidly away from the current disaster at hand.

The maid looked at the upset Watanuki, and then to the somewhat smirking Doumeki, and then to the open closet from which they had emerged. All at once her eyes grew to about twice their normal size as she ran off to report the latest gossip.

Newsflash. The cook and his assistant were homos.

* * *

**I know I've been neglecting my stories... I'm really sorry!!! I just have so much to do...**


	6. Chapter 6

"They seem to always be together…"

"Not to mentions they share the same room…"

"Do you think they… you know…"

Watanuki wondered how no one else could see the dark cloud of warning above his head. He stomped, very angrily, down the hallway. None of the whispering maids seemed to understand that he was not happy. Instead of moving out the way, they seemed to giggle as he marched through… Something about a disgruntled uke.

Something tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around to recite the words that he'd had to say at least a million times a day.

"No I am not in love with that bastard and no you can not film the gay sex!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

"Really? I'm hurt." Watanuki looked up at the face of his annoying assistant. There was a slight tug at the corner of his lips that made Watanuki want to rip his face off. Then feed it to a dog.

"This is ALL you fault…" Watanuki growled bearing his teeth. He slightly resembled a hissing cat. Doumeki closed in the space between them in a miraculously short time considering his size.

"Next time I save your life, I expect a little more gratitude," he whispered softly into the shell of Watanuki's ear.

Watanuki felt his whole body go rigid while Doumeki continued walking on as though nothing had happened. The maids were swooning in the hallway chattering about what secret message could have been whispered into Watanuki's ear. It took the word "bed" to snap him out of his stupor.

"BASTARD!!! Come back here NOW!!!"

* * *

Things hadn't improved much since then. The only thing that had stopped was the questioning. People continued to think he was gay regardless of how he protested. Watanuki lay on his futon with his eyes closed, still processing the day. How he wished he had never had opened his big mouth about that assistant. 

Said lump of an assistant was rolling around on his futon on the other side of the bed. Usually the idiot was about as exciting asleep as he was awake so he Watanuki couldn't imagine what was wrong with him tonight.

Watanuki sat up and blinked his eyes blearily. Sure enough Doumeki was tossing and turning. Actually now that he had put his glasses on the idiot looked a bit flushed and sweaty.

Watanuki crawled a little closer to see if anything was really wrong. Doumeki was breathing pretty hard and looked very uncomfortable. Unless Watanuki's eyes deceived him, Doumeki seemed to be having an actual _nightmare_. That emotionless lump of a rock was having a nightmare!

"I don't… want… so many… bodies…"

Watanuki was slightly alarmed by the sleeping man's mumbling. Usually the extent of his nightmares was a rogue pair of scissors.

As miserable as Doumeki was making Watanuki's life at the moment he couldn't bring himself to be a heartless person. He slowly reached out his hand and applied some pressure to Doumeki's arm.

"Hey, you need to wake up. You're having a—"

Watanuki yelped as Doumeki's arm shot out suddenly and grabbed his wrist. Not to gently either. Watanuki felt like it was going to snap if he pressed any harder.

Watanuki looked at Doumeki's face and saw it slightly panicked. This idiot obviously didn't know what was happening.

"Let go now," he said firmly. Doumeki looked from Watanuki's face, and then to the wrist he had in his possession. He let go quickly as if he had been holding a snake instead of Watanuki's arm. Watanuki was slightly offended.

"Well now that you're done harassing me I think I'd like to go to bed and—"

"Did I say anything?"

Watanuki stopped rambling and looked at him. He looked at his own knees.

"How am I supposed to know? I was only trying to stop the aggravating noise your tossing and turning was making. I wasn't paying any attention to what you were saying…"

Watanuki felt Doumeki's gaze on his downcast head.

"You're a terrible liar, you know."

"What?! You big—"

"What did I say?"

Watanuki muffled his yelling. He looked across the room uncomfortably.

"Something about dead bodies…" he mumbled.

Doumeki studied him for a second. "Nothing else?"

"No now will you please let me go to bed? Some of us actually need to sleep," Watanuki hissed.

Doumeki looked at him for another few seconds, and then turned over towards the wall. Watanuki ignored the abrupt brush-off in favor of sleep. All this excitement was enough for one night. Right now sleep was the most important thing.

* * *

Breakfast the next morning wasn't really that different. Watanuki felt a couple of suspicious glances thrown his way, but nothing really threatening. Watanuki felt like Doumeki believed him for the most part, but couldn't imagine what that rock of a skull was hiding that he wanted to keep secret so badly. 

Doumeki was silent as usually and performed his work wordlessly as he was directed. As annoying as he was he really was an efficient worker. He almost halved the time Watanuki had to spend in the kitchen. And halved the anxiety of possible failing.

Watanuki looked down at his wrist. It had all but healed over the past few days. The fingers were only a little sore so it couldn't have been half as bad a he thought the injury was. He studied his wrist closely. There was a slight red ring around it where Doumeki had grasped it the night before. That idiot had a grip like an angry crab….

"Make sure and take that out," said Watanuki tearing his eyes away from the demented bracelet. Doumeki nodded opting for his trend of not speaking.

He grabbed the potholder, pulled out the casserole, and set it on the counter without so much as a change of expression. Watanuki envied that prowess. His natural clumsiness almost always got in the way.

Watanuki leaned against the counter and sighed. Everything seemed to be going smoothly. Nothing for him to worry about.

"Sorry."

Watanuki looked up confused. Had Doumeki just apologized? Were his ears deceiving him? Watanuki spoke the only response his brain could possibly formulate at the time.

"What?"

Doumeki walked over and pulled up Watanuki's arm. He pointed at Watanuki's wrist and Watanuki grimaced.

"You shouldn't use that wrist for a little while. It was already recently injured."

Watanuki snatched his arm back out of Doumeki's grasp. "I'll use what ever body part I very well please."

Doumeki's eyes widened fractionally. Watanuki started waving his arms exasperatedly.

"You pervert! Is that all you ever think about!"

"Will you just listen to me?"

Watanuki stopped flailing and looked at Doumeki. He looked genuinely concerned. Watanuki curse his good-hearted nature.

"Fine," he said crossing his arms, "but I don't want anymore perverted thoughts from you."

Doumeki shrugged and Watanuki saw that familiar pull at the side of his mouth. Watanuki also felt the familiar feeling of wanting to rip someone's face out. He was just about to start a lecture when he was interrupted by the arrival of a maid.

"Watanuki?" she asked from the door.

Watanuki turned around and nodded. "That's me."

"The master would like to see you," she replied solemnly.

Watanuki felt his heart drop into his stomach. He instinctively turned to look at Doumeki, but the idiot gave away nothing he was thinking. He just looked more than ever like an emotionless boulder.

Watanuki exhaled and gathered up his courage. He walked out the door not knowing if he would come back but knowing he had no choice in the matter.

* * *

**All reviews are loved. They are what keeps me going. 3 Next chapter... what will happen to poor Watanuki? And will those maids ever get that gay porn. : )**


	7. Chapter 7

The road the master's location was a silent one. Watanuki now knew what "calm before the storm" meant all too well. It was like bracing himself for a hurricane. He didn't know what was coming, but he knew that it was not going to be very pleasant. He prayed silently for his limbs that he still felt very attached to, no pun intended.

He reached the entrance to the lord's war room much quicker than he would have liked. He rested his hand above the door, but lacked the courage to open it. The hard wood felt cool under his palm and fingertips. It served as the last barrier between Watanuki and the turmoil inside and gave nothing away concerning what lay on the other side. .

The texture grazed his skin softly in an attempt to delude his mind into thinking this was just another simple door to be opened. Watanuki let himself be fool for a second voluntarily. He drew his breath as if he was about to plunge into the ocean and then pushed.

Watanuki took a moment to look at his surroundings. He had never been in the war room before. It was a traditionally furnished room containing a large table and chairs scattered randomly across the floor. The walls were lined with various paintings. The ranged from hunting scenes to fierce battles to canvases depicting specific forms of torture. The different levels of violence were disgusting and slightly alarming. Watanuki drew his eyes away from the monstrosities with some difficulty and settled them upon the master who was seated before him.

"Watanuki! How very nice to see you!" The master attempted a warm smile and Watanuki had to stop himself from thinking how much it looked like the lion about to eat a deer in one of the more mild paintings.

Watanuki bowed lowly not caring about how much this exposed the back of his neck. At worst the master could strike him, kill him, and put him out of his misery.

"Please, take a seat." The master stood up and gestured to the chair he had previously occupied. Watanuki dared not argue. He sat down in the hard wooden chair uneasily. It was still quite warm.

The master leaned against the table lazily looking very nonchalant. He pulled his arm back and grabbed a wooden staff that was sitting on the surface. He rubbed the smooth, worn wood between his fingers and looked at it lovingly.

"You see, Watanuki," he began without warning, "there seems to be a problem within the castle.

Watanuki swallowed. "What sort of problem, sir?" he said, keeping eye contact with the floor.

"Not a very big problem," the master replied, shrugging, "but enough to put me in to a somewhat uncomfortable situation." Watanuki didn't reply so the master took this as a sign to continue. "Recently, we've observed that there's been some sort of information leak within the castle."

Watanuki felt his blood run cold and drain out of his body. The master had found out. The master had found out Watanuki had been listening behind that door and now he was going to be killed. Or tortured. Or both. His mind raced through the many stages of panic while his body remained in shock.

The master observed Watanuki's reaction and smiled. "Guilty conscience, I see."

Watanuki kept his gaze on the floor, he didn't trust himself to speak.

"So, Watanuki. I'm going to ask you a question. It'd be easier for us both if you answered it truthfully.

Watanuki nodded slowly, his body still refusing to do much else.

"Do you know anything about this leak of information."

Watanuki felt his whole body tense up. What was the master asking? This didn't make any sense. How would he know anything about the spy? Watanuki sat still for a second, then shook his head.

The master sighed as if something regrettable had come to pass. He slowly stood up straight and made his way to where Watanuki was seated. Watanuki saw the master's polished shoes on the patch of floor he had been staring at. He barely had the chance to glance up before something struck him hard across his right cheek.

He was almost knocked out of the chair and yelped at the pain the wooden staff had caused him. Watanuki pulled is hand up to his face where the weapon had struck him. It stung horribly and would probably bruise, but there was no blood or sign of broken tissue or bone.

"I'm sorry it had to be like this Watanuki, but I really have to take care of this unfortunate situation…" The master spoke as if this was some sort of inconvenience that could be tidied up later. What did he really want?

Watanuki's eyes widened fractionally as a possibility suddenly occurred to him. Did the master think _he _was the spy? How could he possible do something like that? He didn't even have the people to give the information to if he had it!

"I'll ask you again, Watanuki. Do you know anything about this information leak?"

Watanuki could think of no reply. It seemed no matter what he did now, nothing he said was going to be valid. Apparently he was going to be tortured until they realized he had no information to give. Then they'd most likely kill him…

"Answer me Watanuki."

Watanuki raised his visage, looked into the master's eyes, and shook his head slowly. Watanuki saw something in the master's eyes snap. Suddenly he felt he hard blow of the wooden staff on his fingers that had been holding his cheek.

"Damn it!!" the master screamed. He walked around the room knocking over furniture and cursing the world.

Watanuki leaned forward in his chair, clenching his teeth to keep himself from screaming. At least one of his fingers had to be broken, if not his whole hand. He clutched his fingers painfully. It would probably take more than a couple of days for this to heal and he was still trying to keep himself from passing out from that blow to the head.

As if to answer some sort of unspoken prayer, the door suddenly opened. Watanuki looked up and saw the butler standing in the doorway looking calm as always.

"Sire, there seems to be some sort of disturbance that requires your attention," he said as he bowed lowly. The master glared at him with so much venom Watanuki was surprised the butler didn't flee on the spot.

"Can it wait," the master spoke with some effort to keep his voice level.

"I don't think so, sire," said the butler bowing coolly again.

The master kicked over one final chair and marched out of the room, muscling past the butler in the door way.

"It'd be best if you returned to your room," spoke the butler, before leaving him alone in the room.

Watanuki glanced around at the now empty and meaningless room. Somehow he was still alive, still breathing. Watanuki collapsed on the floor, hardly daring to breathe. He was not going to cry. He was not. He promised himself he wouldn't.

Watanuki picked himself up and t began mentally preparing himself for the trudge back to his room. Maybe there he could get a nice nap. Maybe he'd have some nice dreams for once if there was any sense of justice in the world.

Watanuki reached for the doorknob with his uninjured hand. Before he reached it, the doorknob starting turning of its own accord. Watanuki was in to much pain to care anymore. Perhaps the master was coming back to finish the job. The door opened slowly and ominously.

It was only that idiot Doumeki.

Strange… He looked somewhat distressed. Maybe he'd forgotten to eat or something.

"What did he do to you?" he spoke quickly as he looked at Watanuki's current state.

Watanuki shrugged. "Apparently he thinks I'm a spy…" Watanuki sensed some sort of change in his assistant's stature. Some insignificant change in expression he couldn't quite place.

"What did you say?" Doumeki asked quietly.

"What do you think I said," snapped Watanuki with as much vigor as he could in his half dazed state. "No, of course. I may be a coward but I'm not a spy. And for another thing I know you're the laziest oaf on earth but I've injured my hand and you're going to have to do some extra work for the next couple of days because I can't…"

Watanuki passed out mid rant and Doumeki gracefully caught him before he hit the ground. He took a glance at Watanuki's soon to be bruising face and obviously broken fingers and steeled his expression.

Without a word, he pulled Watanuki up in his arms and walked out of the room.

* * *

**Nyeh... I didn't mean to torture Watanuki... It just sort of happened. Please forgive me! T-T**


	8. Chapter 8

Watanuki was having that dream again. Except for some reason, the clouds were closer...

Watanuki slowly felt his conscience trickling back into his mind like a leaky faucet. A few series of disconnected thoughts ran through his head as his body ran a systems check on his brain. His mind was becoming aware of his body structures that were supposed to be following his command though he had neither the strength or will to do any spectacular recovering yet…

He settled on the easiest task he could think of. Opening his eyes. Judging by what he could see through his eyelids, the place his was in didn't seem to be very bright. But it did feel somewhat soft, if that made any sense.

He slid his eyes open slowly and carefully, wary of his surroundings. Above him he saw that infamous oaf Doumeki's face and upper body. He was about to give him a severe tongue lashing when he realized the gorilla of a man…. Was asleep?

His breathing was soft and deep and his face looked almost… well, peaceful. His usual brooding expression seemed to be wiped clean from his countenance. In it's place was just… tranquil.

Watanuki was temporarily mesmerized. He had never seen this kind of unguarded expression on his assistant's face. It was odd to say the least. He was planning on telling the big oaf off, but he felt like he should wait a bit. Even idiots deserved a peaceful nap every once in a while. Maybe, he began to consider, he could just sit peacefully a little while longer.

That is, until Watanuki realized where he was laying.

"GAAAH!!" he screamed, jumping out of Doumeki's lap. He then grabbed his head and moaned as an unbelievable migraine shot through his skull. He had almost forgotten about that…

Doumeki was alert and upon Watanuki almost instantly. He grabbed Watanuki and clamped a hand tight over his mouth, his golden glaring eyes daring Watanuki to try to escape. Watanuki inwardly wondered how an expression could change from so peaceful to so fierce in so little time.

"You do realize that every person in this castle would love to stick a spear into our bodies and then burn us alive?" Doumeki looked at him questioningly as if speaking about the weather.

Watanuki stared blankly, then slowly nodded.

"If I let you go, you will not _any_ more loud noises. At all." Doumeki stared at him sternly.

Watanuki slowly nodded again.

Doumeki sighed and released his grip. Watanuki quickly gulped in a lungful of air to compensate for the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. He then groaned quietly as the migraine that had left in the excitement returned.

"I recommend laying back down. You probably have a mild concussion," advised Doumeki as he settled back down with his back against a wall. Watanuki ignored him in favor of examining his surroundings.

They seemed to be in a rather small, windowless, damp room. The whole room, ceiling, walls, and floor seemed to be made of hard stone. The only door to speak of looked like a slab of steel glued into the wall. In fact, the whole room looked rather like a….

"Doumeki?" Watanuki inquired.

"Yes?" answered Doumeki from the other side of the small room. He was currently rummaging through a bag in the corner.

"Why are we in the dungeon?"

Doumeki looked up from his task and rolled his eyes. "It's the last place they'd look for us of course."

A sudden realization slapped Watanuki across the face.

"We're… running from the whole castle? We're rebelling and escaping."

Doumeki looked like he wanted to roll his eyes again, but refrained."I can't put you back here if you want to stay."

Watanuki bit his lip and opted for silence. Still, this did not seem like a very intelligent idea at all…

Doumeki observed his expression, then softened. "Look, we both want to get out of this horrible place. The lord looked pretty close to murdering you anyway. This is the perfect chance."

Watanuki looked up at him, then nodded. He was right of course. Pretty soon he could be free of this place and with his dear Himawari again. Everything could be back to normal. The thought steeled his resolve and he sat back against a wall, making himself comfortable. Well, as comfortable as he could in a dungeon.

Doumeki rummaged through the bag in the corner of the otherwise unremarkable room for a few more seconds and pulled out a small but dangerous looking knife. Watanuki eyed it warily.

"Don't worry, it's just for self-defense," reassured Doumeki as he tucked it into his belt. He crossed the dungeon and headed for the slab/door.

"I'm coming with you," said Watanuki stubbornly. He attempted to stand but was quickly thwarted by his rebelling brain.

"And you'd be a lot of help in your current state…" snorted Doumeki as he reached for the door.

"Wait," interrupted Watanuki.

Doumeki hesitated for a moment. "What is it?"

"Why are you even worrying about me?" said Watanuki, staring at the ground. It was painfully obvious that an escape would be much easier without a near invalid to worry about.

Doumeki looked at him carefully, and then shrugged. "I don't know," he said simply, then walked out the door.

Watanuki exhaled slowly and leaned his head against the wall. What could Doumeki's motives be? It's not like he had any special skills to offer in an escape. Was it possible he was doing this out of actual _kindness_? No chance he would be any help at all. In fact, the only other reason he could possible think of was….

Oh no…

No way…

It couldn't be..

Was Doumeki…

The spy?

It would make perfect sense. He lied to him the whole time! That idiot was just helping him out of guilt! Thanks to him, his head was throbbing and his hand was all but useless!

Everything he'd done since he'd gotten here… It all made sense.

None of this was his fault. It was all Doumeki's fault!

If it weren't for him, he wouldn't be in any of this mess!

Watanuki felt his blood start to boil. Just when he was starting to actually consider that oaf a _friend_. Of course this made perfect sense. The moron felt sorry for him. He'd caused Watanuki all this pain and he rightly felt guilty! Now he was injured and left at the liar and traitor's mercy. He felt his anger exploding on the inside of his skull

Everything he'd done for Watanuki had been to relieve his guilty lying conscience… Well, Watanuki would show him.

It was time for a little interrogation.

* * *

** Sorry about the really messy chapter. I'll fix it as soon as a get a break in my REALLY busy hectic schdule. Why does everything come at the end of the school year?**


	9. Chapter 9

Doumeki hurried down the corridor quietly with a bag of food held securely in his arms. It might be a while before they found the perfect opening for an escape. He thought they better prepare a little ahead of time

He knew if he was patient, the perfect opportunity would present itself.

He really wasn't sure why he was helping out this spastic cook. It really would have been much easier to escape on his own. Watanuki in his current state seemed to have a few brain cells knocked loose and didn't even have use of his preferred hand to wield a weapon.

Then again, Doumeki had never been the kind of person to leave someone in need behind. He had gotten himself in plenty of messes throughout this bloody war like that.

Doumeki sighed as he reached their temporary living space. He had indeed gotten himself into many messes, but none as dangerous as this. He was positioned in the center of a ticking time bomb that he could only hope wouldn't go off.

He nudged the door with his shoulder, making sure not to drop the bag. Dusty vegetables weren't his personal preference. The door slid open creakily under his pressure and he walked into the dungeon.

One glance around the room told him that it was now empty leaving his brain to process quite a few scenarios in about a second, none of them being very pleasant. In the next second he realized about half of those scenarios left him in a very dangerous position.

In the third second, he was tackled from the side, leaving him to believe the room wasn't quite as empty as he originally thought it was.

He was knocked to the ground with his assailant on top of him. The food he'd gathered spilled across the floor as he felt something cool press into his throat. No doubt it was something sharp and metal.

"Who are you?" spoke a very irate voice. He was pretty sure he knew who it was…

Doumeki groaned and looked up into the face of his attacker. Then he groaned again. When he considered all the possible people who wanted him dead right now, he really wouldn't have expected that spastic cook to be the one to get the better of him.

* * *

Watanuki held the knife close to Doumeki's throat with his good hand. No doubt if he was the spy, he would have some skill in fighting. Watanuki could only hope that the threat of the knife would keep him from trying to escape.

"Who are you?" asked Watanuki again, pushing the knife a little closer to Doumeki's throat for emphasis.

"What the hell is wrong with you? Do you mind getting off of me?" Doumeki glared at him with his golden eyes. He was not amused.

"Tell me the truth," said Watanuki as he straddled Doumeki's waist.

Doumeki rolled his eyes and sighed exasperatedly. "You're stupider than I thought. What have you cooked up in that malfunctioning head of yours while I was gone?"

"Shut up!" yelled Watanuki as he moved the knife closer. Doumeki winced.

"You know good and well what I'm talking about, and I want all the answers," said Watanuki seriously.

"I have no idea what you are talking about," said Doumeki through gritted teeth. "And frankly I really don't care. Now will you please get off of me?"

"Not until I get the truth," said Watanuki stubbornly, then he tried another tactic. "What were you moaning in your sleep the other night?"

Doumeki looked mildly surprise for a millisecond, then answered composedly. "I've seen my fair share of unpleasant things in my life."

Watanuki scowled at the vague answer. "I'm not letting you up until you answer me properly.

"Then I guess we're going to be here a while," said Doumeki as he looked him square in the eye, "because you're completely delusional and I don't think it really matters what I say at this point."

Watanuki just glared angrily at him. Apparently Doumeki was going to take this to the grave. He was probably trained to keep his mouth shut. It might be nearly impossible to force information out of him. This was going to be more difficult than he originally planned…

"Are you just going to sit on top of me for the rest of your life?" asked Doumeki irritably. Watanuki blushed.

"If you'd just tell me the truth, I might consider letting you up."

"Might as well get comfortable then…" sighed Doumeki. He started moving his arms and Watanuki flinched with the knife in hand.

"Would you relax? I'm not stupid enough to try anything."

Watanuki just glared at him as Doumeki slipped his hands behind his own head. Watanuki felt the idiot relax all his previously tense muscles as he exhaled.

"Stone's not very pleasant under your skull," he said conversationally. Watanuki felt his rage building up, but quickly bit it back. He could yell and scream all he wanted, but it probably wouldn't do anything except for bring the guards running down here.

"Comfortable?" sneered Watanuki.

"Very," replied Doumeki with a smirk. "How about you?"

Watanuki flushed and bit his lip to keep from screaming. He was quickly growing very uncomfortable with his position on top of Doumeki. Unfortunately the moron didn't seem to mind at all. This was quickly becoming a battle of wills that Watanuki knew he couldn't win.

Even though Watanuki knew he couldn't beat him, he knew he wasn't going to give up. Watanuki stood his ground, or rather sat on it, while Doumeki simply stared at him with those piercing golden eyes of his.

And stared.

And stared.

And stared….

"Would you quit looking at me!" said Watanuki as loudly as he dared.

"Would you get off of me?"

"Not until I get answers."

"Then no." Doumeki continued staring unfalteringly. Watanuki expected as much. He was growing more uncomfortable by the second, and he knew Doumeki knew it. He also knew Doumeki knew he wasn't really going to be able to do anything with that knife. He didn't have it in him…

It didn't seem like this battle was going to last much longer.

Suddenly Watanuki didn't care whether Doumeki was a spy or not. He just wanted get out of this nightmare. He felt his resolve weakening.

Doumeki saw his chance and quickly had the tables turned. He knocked knife from Watanuki's hand and quickly had his arms pinned behind him, careful to avoid the injured fingers.

Watanuki struggled for a moment, but quickly gave up. He knew there was no way he was going to win a battle of strength with a human boulder.

"Are you going to behave yourself now?" asked Doumeki. Watanuki just growled. Doumeki released him and settled for picking up the scattered food. Watanuki pouted in the corner looking very much like a cranky kicked cat.

Neither one of them had anticipated the explosion that shook the floor beneath them.

It took Doumeki's brain a few moments to register what was going on. "_The time bomb has gone off_," he thought.

Watanuki's brain was still stuck on "_What the hell?_"

* * *

"They've come for the weapon," said the master solemnly. "It seems we're going to have a fight on our hands."

The butler nodded silently from behind him.

"It seems we're too late to fix the leak. Call the men off the search and tell them to prepare for battle."

"Yes, sire" said the butler obediently, before pulling a dagger out of his belt.

"And make sure to tell them to kill those spies if they happen to run across them."

"Of course," said the butler as he non-chalantly shoved the dagger into the master's back.

The man was dead before he hit the ground. The butler pulled the dagger out and wiped it off carefully. He smirked slightly at a job well done.

Now all that was left was to eliminate anyone who might have information on the weapon.

He whistled a jolly tune as he stepped over his master's body and strolled out the room. he wondered to himself how he always got the easy jobs.

* * *

**I had the day off so I decided to spend my time writing this. Hope everyone enjoys it. :)**


	10. Chapter 10

_Oh god_, thought Watanuki, _Here it is! The end of the world! I should have expected it. _

Watanuki grabbed his head and moaned. Yeah, this was just effing PERFECT. The earth was about to collapse on itself and he was stuck in this moldy dungeon with rocks for brains. Nice way to go Watanuki! Now where was a good rock when you wanted to bash your head in…

"Oi."

"What the hell do you want?! I 'm sure this is all your fault anyway!" He put his head in his hands and proceeded to pull his hair out.

Doumeki cocked an eyebrow. "Idiot."

Watanuki turned around and glared angrily for a moment, then started looking for a rock again.

"Are you planning on staying here?" said Doumeki folding his arms across his chest.

"Where else would I go! It's the end of the world! I don't think it really matters at this point!" yelled Watanuki frantically as he kicked the wall and then held the injured foot as he jumped up and down.

Doumeki sighed. This guy was definitely way more trouble than he was worth.

Doumeki grabbed Watanuki's hand and pulled. He was prepared for force if necessary. "This place is a war zone under attack. I suggest you get out of here if you plan on surviving. "

Watanuki looked at him incredulously. "Yes of course you'd know that," he said waving his free and injured hand around. "But I don't see why I have to go with you, you disgusting traitor!"

The idiot had finally snapped…Doumeki ignored his rantings and pulled the cook out into the hallway. He was done trying to explain. He was never the talkative type anyway.

"Let go of me you oaf!" yelped Watanuki as he uselessly tried to pull his hand free. Doumeki stopped pulling and turned around to Watanuki with a very serious expression on his face.

"If you don't stop I will break both of your legs and carry you out of here."

Watanuki gulped and shut his mouth. He had no doubt Doumeki was capable of this suggestion and no doubt he wouldn't enjoy this scenario very much.

Another explosion sounded a little farther off and Watanuki felt himself being dragged down the hallway. He gathered his footing and followed Doumeki obediently however much this was injuring his pride. As much as he didn't mine the broken legs he couldn't stand the thought of being in Doumeki's arms again.

Surprisingly the path ahead of them was completely empty. Of course the spy would know the perfect way out… Watanuki felt himself being led through the maze of corridors The carpet they were now on was soothing to his bare feet in comparison to the previous cold stone. They had gone up quite a few floors and Watanuki was beginning to wonder about the route they were taking.

Watanuki could feel the ground shaking in intervals and hear the sound of far of voices yelling in the distance. This was without a doubt not a very good situation to be in the middle of. He didn't understand how he could have gotten dragged into this…

Wait a second… Suddenly Watanuki realized he wasn't moving anymore. This couldn't be good. Watanuki glanced at Doumeki who was looking very still and very expressionless. Even more so than usual…

"What is it?" asked Watanuki warily. He felt Doumeki's hand tightening unconsciously around his own.

"What is it?" Watanuki repeated a little more anxiously. Again there was no response.

Watanuki was about the repeat the question when suddenly he was thrown to the ground rather forcefully with the big oaf on top of him.

"What the hell do you think you're—"

And then came the explosion.

Watanuki felt like the very universe was going to cave in two as rocks and debris were thrown around mercilessly as he forced his eyes shut tight to avoid any optical injuries. Watanuki felt a few bumps here and there but for the most part he was protected. It seemed as though that completely useless oaf was taking the brunt of the force. Watanuki felt like strangling him.

And just as quick as it had started, suddenly it was very quiet, but Watanuki dare not open his eyes until he was sure it was all over. He felt that quite heavy Doumeki still on top of him thankfully still breathing (thankfully? What was he thinking!). There seemed to be quite a bit of dust in the air but other than that there was the blessed fact that the floor was still holding. It seemed somehow they had both survived. He sighed heavily.

And then he felt Doumeki's sharp intake of breath.

Watanuki's eyes snapped open and he pushed himself Doumeki up. Doumeki pulled away wincing slightly.

Watanuki looked at Doumeki who was clutching his leg. He look fairly battered but Watanuki was more preoccupied with the hand covering his view of Doumeki's leg. Watanuki couldn't see much but a decent amount of blood and his eyes grew to the size of saucers.

"What do you think you are doing you IDIOT!" he screamed, flailing his limbs. "Look at your leg! You've ripped it open!"

Doumeki glared at him minutely. "I hadn't noticed."

"Shut up! What was that anyway! Are you trying to get yourself killed!" Watanuki moved over to him and pried Doumeki's hand off his leg. Beneath was a rather large gash in his calf. Doumeki could practically feel Watanuki seething.

"I don't believe this…" he mumbled as he started to rip off part of the bottom of his shirt. He took the piece of cloth and thrust it at Doumeki. Doumeki stared at him, lost.

"I can't do everything for you, you imbecile! You know I only have one good hand! You'll have to bandage it yourself!" Watanuki threw it into Doumeki's lap then sat against a rock looking very peeved.

Doumeki wordlessly took the cloth and began to wrap it around his leg. Sure it was painful, but he would live. Walking however, was another matter…

Doumeki finished wrapping up and then exhaled heavily. This was definitely not part of his escape plan…Well now he could throw the idea of freedom down the drain… And to think of all he'd been through, this is the way he was going to go…

He felt a tug at his hand and looked to his left. Watanuki was pulling his arm around his own shoulder. Doumeki's eyes widened a fraction.

"Well, you can't very well walk on your own idiot…" said Watanuki staring firmly at the ground.

Doumeki felt the corners of his mouth twitch as Watanuki supported him and pulled him up.

"What are you laughing at smart ass!" he yelled turning furiously red. "I swear! Any funny business and I'm dropping you here and leaving!" He huffed and started to look around for a way through the debris.

"I think we're going to have to find another way out…"

The path ahead of them Doumeki had been heading for was now blocked by what looked like half of another corridors wall and now seemed completely impassible.

Doumeki sighed. "I don't know another way out…" He felt Watanuki deflate beneath his arm.

"You really make a useless spy! You know that!" he spat.

Doumeki looked at him. "What?"

"I said you're a terrible spy! Now there's probably an invasion on your information and you haven't even been busted out!"

"What the hell? You think I'm a spy!"

"Well that's because you are one! Don't think you're fooling me!"

Doumeki felt like bashing this idiot's head in. Just because he's intelligent enough to scope out the place instead of resigning himself to his fate he's a spy… What the hell…

"I'm not a spy now will you shut up and—"

"He's right Watanuki. Although he is a very suspicious person he is in fact not the spy."

Watanuki felt the hairs prick up on the back of his neck and turn himself around slowly, careful of Doumeki's injuries.

"I'm afraid I am the culprit here," said the butler as he bowed lowly.

* * *

**I am sooooo sorrry for the hiatus!! Please don't hurt me! T-T And plz forgive my bad writing skillllzzzz ;-;**


	11. Chapter 11

"Wait… you're kidding. The _butler _did it?" asked Watanuki in disbelief.

Watanuki saw butler standing in front of him, but it didn't really register in his mind. It's not like the butler was out of the ordinary in any way. He looks like a normal middle aged man. Gray hair, gray beard, gray skin, even eyes that were brown but you could swear they were actually gray... Nothing like a spy. Watanuki just stared.

The butler raised his head and surveyed his company. He ran his eyes over both of them, lingering on their many injuries.

"Well…" he finally announced. "This will be much easier than I thought it would be. And here I thought I might have a bit of trouble…" He sighed heavily. "Might as well take my time…"

Watanuki stared in disbelief as the man began taking off his… hair? The butler reached up and carefully started pulling off the mustache at the edge of his face. He glanced to them and caught the amazed look Watanuki was giving him and the blank stare that was emanating from Doumeki.

"Oh, don't worry," he said lightly as he smiled at them. "This will only take a moment…" The butler pulled out a cloth and began to rub at his face. The end result was rather… different.

Instead of the middle aged man that had stood there moments ago now stood a young man that looked maybe only a few years older than Watanuki himself with dark hair and slightly tanned skin. Watanuki gaped at the transformation. He ignored Doumeki slightly tensing at his side.

The young man standing in front of them breathed in deeply. "Ah…" he sighed. "It feels so much better not to be wrapped up in that godforsaken cocoon. I felt like a walking corpse." He ran a hand through dark hair and smiled at them with his cold eyes.

"Eh…" remarked Watanuki stupidly. All this was way above his head. He looked over at Doumeki looking for him to make sense of the situation. What he so slightly startled him. Doumeki looked… angry? He seemed to be expressing hatred? His expression hadn't changed by much but is aura was slightly alarming.

"Aw, don't look at me that way," frowned the young man as he recognized the atmosphere seeping from Doumeki. "I didn't drag you into this on purpose. Merely a coincidence you got mixed in. Or should I say bonus."

"You…" spoke Doumeki. While not seeming outwardly distressing, the very word seemed to be the definition of hatred. Watanuki shivered slightly and Doumeki glanced in his direction as if he had forgotten that there were actually three people in the room.

"Come come now," said the young man clapping his hands. "No need for old rivalries To get in the way. I should be thanking you actually. Working so hard to keep what I was after safe. You were always the soft one. Never cut out for this kind work. The manipulation was easy." He gestured around at nothing with his hands.

Watanuki felt his suspicions sinking back into his stomach. So his intuition hadn't been wrong.

"Still as competent as ever I see though… Too bad you were always a bit unlucky. I'll let the king know I took care of you when I go back to report. I'm sure he'll miss you but nothing can be done…"

"Like hell," said Doumeki calmly as he kept his unblinking glare.

Watanuki's mind grew completely blank. If he thought this was way over his head before…

The young man sighed theatrically again. "You were always difficult. Such a stubborn one. Of course sometimes that was a good quality in your missions but it was so bothersome in social circumstances…" The man rambled on as if Doumeki was an ancient figure of the past. A trivial thing to reminisce about. Watanuki quickly found himself growing very, very nervous

"Oi…"

Watanuki felt the whisper of a breath in the shell of his ear. He barely bit back a bunch of stinging retorts that were bouncing around his head to get out. This was clearly not the time.

"You need to run…"

Watanuki did not understand this man. Here was the cripple Doumeki obviously dealing with someone he knew that he didn't seem to get along with very well and he was telling Watanuki so make an escape? What was he thinking?

Before Watanuki could say a word of protest Doumeki pulled his weight off of Watanuki and took a step in front of him. His expression never faltered but Watanuki could tell he was barely standing…

The man stopped chattering and looked at him with slightly raised eyebrows and a wide smile. "How very gallant," he laughed. "Making a sacrifice are we?"

"Move it." He barked at Watanuki behind him.

"Are you kidding! You're going to get yourself—"

"I said go," said Doumeki flatly as if that was the final word and would forever be unquestioned.

"Would you two stop that? I'm not stupid, you know," he said as he rolled his eyes. "Don't you worry. Neither one of you is getting away. By the time I'm done one will be dead and the other begging for my mercy." He stopped and licked his lips, as if anticipating a tasty treat. Watanuki felt his stomach drop.

Suddenly the ostentatious young man grew serious. Watanuki recalled that he had never quite anything so cold…

"Die," spoke the man. And then he charged.

Watanuki felt himself thrown aside as he heard a loud metallic clash and saw the glint of silver on silver. Where the knives had come from he had no idea. Doumeki and the man were now face to face with only their knives as barriers between them.

Doumeki's face was contorted in pain and the man's face wore a cold blank look almost as if he was sleeping. It was clear he was going to win this battle of wills as strong as Doumeki's stubbornness was.

Watanuki pushed himself off the ground with his good hand. No way he was going sit here and watch someone die right in front of him. He grabbed a sizeable piece of something and chucked it right at the man's head.

The rubble bounced off the man's temple and he glanced in Watanuki's direction. Watanuki felt himself almost freeze as the man's eyes bored into his own. Cold was definitely the right word…

The man forced his sword ahead and shoved Doumeki to the ground. Doumeki hit the floor with a nice thump and didn't look as if he had the strength to get up. Then he slowly began to make his way towards Watanuki who was still rooted to the spot.

"That was not very intelligent," he said quietly. Watanuki couldn't feel himself breathing.

"Get… away from him!" gasped Doumeki from the ground. The man looked at him with what looked like a spark of amusement.

"I don't know what kind of position you think you're in to be giving orders…" he said calmly. He grabbed Watanuki's hand roughly and forced his arm behind him. Watanuki's face twisted in pain. Of course he had grabbed his injured in hand…

"You shouldn't have befriended it you fool… I've just decided we can't have something this dangerous wandering around…"

Watanuki felt something sharp press into his back and his breath hitched.

"Just be still..." Watanuki felt the almost gentle whisper in his hair. "I promise… everthing will be so much better in a second…"

* * *

**Sorry to leave off in a cliffhanger guys (like I always do) but I need a break and I figured I'd just go ahead and submit this. hehe... **

**I haven't checked over it so if there are errors I promise I won't be offended if you pm me and tell me. I really do need some kind of editor... lol**

**I have a poll on my profile for kicks. Go vote on it if you wish to help me with my own pointless self amusement...**


	12. Chapter 12

Watanuki was fairly sure the object was a knife. He was also fairly sure that it would be very painful if that knife got stuck into him.

"Get away from him!" barked Doumeki again. He could feel the psychotic man grinning behind his head.

"So touchy," he said and he pushed the knife a little bit further. Watanuki winced. Anymore and he was sure that knife was going to pierce him. Then suddenly the pressure was gone. Watanuki relaxed his tense muscles for a second, but he knew it wasn't over.

"So where should I cut him first, Shizuka?" he asked bringing the knife around to Watanuki's face.

Shizuka? What that Doumeki's name?

Doumeki just glared at him. As it was he couldn't do much with his injuries. With Watanuki being held hostage it looked completely impossible to do a thing.

The man brought up the knife to Watanuki's face. Slowly he thin cut across Watanuki's left cheek. Watanuki refused to move. He could feel a bit of blood already starting to drip.

The man pulled the knife away from Watanuki's face and tested it with the tip of his tongue. Watanuki felt like he was going to be sick…

"What do you want," deadpanned Doumeki.

The man looked over to him and sighed. "Well, I really do wish I could kill it but unfortunately it is needed alive for the time being. I would never be forgiven is I came back and it was dead. It's so hard to find these things…" The man leaned in and breathed in Watanuki's hair.

"Such very rare creatures… It's hard to find those who attract spirits."

Watanuki felt his insides turn out. How did that man know he attracted spirits? And what did this have to do with anything.

"The lord of this house of course didn't notice a key was right under his nose. What are the chances: we need a new cook and in comes exactly what we've been looking for. Mind you I didn't know about it for a while either. Followed him around a bit witnessed it myself. Of course once we found a decent spirit magnet the lord wasn't any use anymore…"

Watanuki wondered if he would ever figure out what was going on.

"So you're planning on using him the same as the others?" Doumeki spoke quietly.

"But of course? What else would we need a spirit magnet for."

Watanuki felt the man reach towards his pocket. Was he putting the knife away? Not that it mattered much. It seemed like this man could probably kill him with just his hands anyway…

The man pulled something out of his pocket but Watanuki couldn't quite see what it was. Doumeki however looked completely shocked judging by his minute enlarging of eyes. This couldn't be good.

"Don't you dare—" started Doumeki. Watanuki suddenly felt something snap around his neck. What the hell? It felt like some kind of metal collar.

"Only a matter of time now!" The man started laughing hysterically behind him. So definitely not good then. How did he get mixed up in this mess again? Oh well… This seemed like a hopeless situation anyway…

"We still haven't managed to find away to attract the spirits to it without the use of a spirit magnet but that's okay. As long as we can find them it's not big deal. Pity it's not removable though. Oh well, it's a sacrifice we're all willing to make."

Watanuki sighed and closed his eyes. This was all so stupid.

"Oi,"

Of course that idiot was probably talking to him. Watanuki ignored him

"Oi."

Stupid irritating good for nothing—

"Oi!"

Suddenly Watanuki felt a spark of anger that quickly flared.

"I told you to call me by my name you oaf!!" he screamed. The man behind him looked momentarily taken aback.

"Idiot. Just letting yourself get taken hostage."

"What are you talking about it's not like I wanted this to happen! This is all your fault anyway you… you… ugh!"

Doumeki just looked at him and smirked. "At least I'm not stupid enough to molest people while I'm sleeping."

"I'LL KILL YOU!!"

Watanuki broke free from his captor grasp with the advantage of the man's momentary shock and charged at Doumeki. Injured or not he was going to murder this oaf!

It suddenly dawned upon Watanuki that he was free.

"Duck," said Doumeki, and he flung something out of his hand.

Watanuki barely got down in time before something that was probably really sharp whizzed above his head. He heard it make contact with something with a dull thump.

Once Watanuki was sure nothing else was going to come flying at him he stood up angrier than ever.

"Are you trying to kill me!! What are you think!"

Doumeki just rolled his eyes and gestured behind Watanuki. Watanuki turned around and jumped in alarm. Behind him the man was standing behind him with Doumeki's knife buried into his chest. The man's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed to the floor.

"Eep!" squeaked Watanuki moving away from the corpse.

"Eep?" snorted Doumeki. "That's masculine."

"You shut up!" yelled Watanuki.

Suddenly Watanuki remembered everything that had just occurred. He reached for his neck. There was some kind of metal ring around it. He started tugging at it with his hands.

"You can give up on that," said Doumeki standing up with surprising ease. "It's not coming off without a key."

"And I don't suppose you know where this key is?" asked Watanuki glaring at him.

"No clue," said Doumeki as he walked over towards the dead man's body. He began putting his hands inside the corpsed clothes.

"What they hell are you doing!" yelled Watanuki moving back.

"I'm looking for a key," said Doumeki rolling his eyes again.

"Oh…" Watanuki felt momentarily put out.

"Um, so who was he and what is this thing?" asked Watanuki fingering the object around his neck.

"He was an assassin and a spy. That's a bomb."

"…"

Doumeki quickly retracted his hands and put them over his ears.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S A BOMB!!" exploded Watanuki.

Doumeki pulled his hands off. "It's a spirit ring. Once it's eaten enough spirits, boom. Not that hard to understand." Doumeki continued searching the corpse's belongings.

Watanuki felt himself come close to passing out.

"Oh my god there's a bomb around my neck..." he said feeling a little woozy.

Doumeki sighed and stood up. "Figures he wouldn't have it. He was crazy, but not stupid. Looks like your stuck with that thing."

Watanuki felt distinctly light headed.

Doumeki began to walk ahead with an almost undetectable limp.

"Hey! Where are you going!" Watanuki shouted.

"I'm getting out of here of course. I suggest you follow if you don't want that thing around your neck to find what it's looking for."

Watanuki felt his blood run cold.

Stay with the ghost repelling idiot or blow up? This was going to be a hard decision.

Watanuki sighed and moved to catch up with him. "You're going to explain everything when we get out of here. Do you hear me?"

Doumeki made a noncommittal grunt. Watanuki chose to take that as a yes.

"And don't think I'm going to help you walk because I'm sure that leg of yours doesn't really hurt at all!"

Doumeki rolled his eyes once again and kept going.

"I mean it! You can just walk by yourself! The great Watanuki will not indulge you this time!"

Doumeki ignored him.

About two minutes later they were making there way towards through the building with Doumeki's arm slung over Watanuki's shoulders. Watanuki was muttering something about "moron" and "ruin your leg."

* * *

**Indeed a very difficult decision Watanuki-san. Good thing you chose Shizuka over blowing up though. I'm afraid that wouldn't have made a very good story. **

**Didn't really realize the use of the "word" collar was kinda suggestive until after I was done. I don't feel like changing it. **

**Eh, I'm tired and I'm going to take a nap. **


	13. Chapter 13

Watanuki yawned and then stretched as far as he could, feeling his back slowly loosening just a bit. Sleeping on the ground made for bad aches in pains in the morning, he learned the hard way. He glanced to his left, seeing the burnt wood that had been their fire and source of warmth during the night, and then to his right at the sleeping Doumeki who was sleeping close to him, but luckily not that close. He supposed he could deal with this radius of Doumeki. He could hear the river moving at a moderate pace not too far away.

He sat up slowly and rubbed his eyes, trying to make his exhaustion disappear somehow. Carrying Doumeki out of the castle and into the forest was no easy feat. He was rather large after all…

Light was just managing to break through the trees in the forest they currently occupied. Having no idea where they were or where the nearest village was, they had no choice but to camp out in the forest, where it would be easier to hide if need be. Both of them really needed their rest after all of that action after all…

Watanuki glanced around, wondering what they were going to do for food. It would probably be easy enough to find some edible roots or berries around. Sure they wouldn't taste as good as fresh bread, but he could probably round up a few things to make--

A sudden realization hit Watanuki.

He was free.

No more cooking for that miserable old man, whatever had happened to him, and living in fear every minute of his life.

He could do what he wanted when he wanted to and go where he pleased.

He might even be able to see his wonderful Himawari again!

With these thoughts in mind he cheered, throwing his arms into the air and laughing madly. He had never been so happy in his life.

"Oi," Doumeki stirred next to the elated Watanuki. "Keep it down."

"You shut up mindless ogre! I may finally be able to see the wonderful Himawari again and I will cheer as I please! You've had plenty of sleep!"

Doumeki glared at him from his resting place. "I suggest unless you want to attract passerby, you shut up."

"Oh…" Watanuki momentarily deflated, realizing the insufferable oaf was right, but in the next second continued his cheering, only more quietly. Doumeki just rolled his eyes.

And then another realization hit Watanuki.

There was still a bomb around his neck.

There was no way he could go anywhere near Himawari like this. He couldn't put her in that kind of danger.

He lowered his arms and sighed. He knew he should be happy for escaping, but he couldn't help his certain peril dampening that a bit…

Especially when he was faced with the choice between Doumeki and kaboom.

"You," spoke Watanuki to Doumeki, who immediately turned over and away from him.

"Don't you ignore me you jerk! You promised me answers!"

"I promised you nothing," deadpanned Doumeki. Watanuki jumped up in rage.

"After ALL OF THAT you're not going to explain ANYTHING!! What the hell is WRONG with YOU!!!"

Doumeki plugged his ears. "Moron, you're going to get us killed."

Watanuki quickly lowered his volume a few notches, but abandoned none of the intensity.

"I deserve to know something, seeing as I have this bomb strapped around my neck!"

"We have to find the key," said Doumeki tonelessly as he sat up, apparently giving up on the hope of getting anymore sleep.

Watanuki stared at him, grinding his teeth. "And where do you suppose we get this 'key.'"

Doumeki shrugged. Watanuki felt like his head was about to explode. Sensing the impending very loud noise, Doumeki spoke up. "If you have any better ideas…"

Watanuki stifled his angry rant, but still glared daggers at Doumeki and his cool composure. This oaf _knew_ things and he wasn't sharing with Watanuki. All this crap and he still refused to tell Watanuki anything.

Doumeki stood up, dusted himself off, and began walking.

"Wait! Where are you going!" yelled Watanuki as he scrambled up to follow. He wasn't sure of the radius of Doumeki's protection yet and didn't plan on testing it out.

"Following the river."

Of course that made perfect sense, that jerk. Follow the river and sooner or later you would probably end up at a village. Why didn't he think of that…

The village couldn't be too far. After all, his cooking supplies had to come from somewhere, right? He hoped that was true and they didn't have too much of a hike. Doumeki's stupid injured leg probably couldn't take that much anyway…

He glanced over at Doumeki, who didn't seem to be limping anymore. Watanuki was sure that injury had to still be causing him a bit of pain, but he didn't even show it. Was he used to pain? Watanuki looked up at his expressionless face. Maybe it was expressionless because he had be hurt so many…

Watanuki brushed that thought out of his head. What was he thinking, feeling bad for this jerk. He was probably just a spoiled rotten child who was used to getting his way and everything he wanted. Yeah, that made much more sense. And conveniently cleared Watanuki's conscience of any insults he wanted to throw at Doumeki.

"Stop staring at me."

"Don't flatter yourself!" Watanuki folded his arms and looked away. Big jerk… Big spoiled jerk…

Watanuki sped up to keep his pace with Doumeki who was moving remarkably fast for an injured person. He was probably doing it just to spite Watanuki. He probably spent half his days thinking of different things he could do to spite Watanuki. It was probably a hobby of his…

"Oi, quit daydreaming."

"My name is NOT OI!!!" he screamed, but put his seething on the backburner. He probably did need to be focused in case any of the soldiers or guards from the battle earlier found them in the forest and decided they were better off dead.

After about thirty minutes of trudging, Watanuki felt the silence pressing on him like dead weight. He did not like silence. It made him uneasy.

"So… what does this key look liked?" he ventured to Doumeki. Doumeki just grunted. "Answer me, you twit!" Watanuki commanded.

"It looks like a key," was Doumeki's response. Watanuki felt like picking up the nearest branch and slamming it into Doumeki's head.

"What size is it? What color is it? Can't you tell me anything, you useless oaf!"

Doumeki's response was to stop walking and start…

Stripping?

Watanuki watched in horror as Doumeki peeled off his shirt to reveal a broad, tastefully muscled chest and started at his pants.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING???" screamed Watanuki.

Doumeki pulled his hands away from his waistband and covered his ears, wincing. "Washing up, you idiot."

Watanuki gasped and covered his eyes as Doumeki pulled off the rest of his clothing and then submerged himself in the river, which went about up to his stomach.

"Don't you have any self respect!" Watanuki demanded.

"Are you a girl or something?" asked Doumeki, running his eyes over Watanuki's frame.

"No I am not a girl!" screamed Watanuki, blushing and somehow feeling a bit violated by Doumeki's eyes.

"Hn." Doumeki quickly submerged himself completely in the water and then pulled back up after a couple of seconds, looking quite a bit cleaner. Watanuki hadn't realized how much dirt they had accumulated through those explosions. He probably needed a bath quite a bit himself.

Watanuki looked over at Doumeki, then over at a bend in the river. No matter what Doumeki said, he preferred taking his baths in privacy. He wouldn't be seen and, even better, wouldn't see Doumeki from there. Then he realized, it was too far away from Doumeki.

He would have to strip with Doumeki right there. He felt like he was about to break down into sobs. He peered down at the patches of grime on his arms and felt his OCD crying on the inside. He really, really needed a bath.

He glanced over at Doumeki, who was now looking at him curiously, wondering what he was going to do. Watanuki quickly looked away, and then began to pull his clothing off. He could feel the grin tugging at Doumeki's face.

"WHY ARE YOU WATCHING ME STRIPPING AND ENJOYING IT YOU HOMO!!!"

Doumeki looked back at him with almost a complete grin now. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Watanuki was ready to kill himself. He quickly pulled off the rest of his clothing and jumped into the water before Doumeki could get a good look.

"HOLY—"

Watanuki pulled his head above the water. It was _freezing_! How could Doumeki stand it! He wrapped his arms around his torso, his teeth chattering like maracas. But he was already in, and he might as well get it over with. He began rubbing the dirt off of his skin, getting used to the cold and feeling better for every bit of uncleanliness being rubbed away. He had even gotten used to Doumeki being nearby, as Doumeki had resumed cleaning himself and minding his own business.

That is, until he felt a tug at his ankle.

He tried to scream, but he was already pulled under and was only inhaling water.

* * *

**Ehheh heh heh... ^^; *hides***


	14. Chapter 14

It felt like a gallon of water had filled his lungs in that attempted breath and felt his whole body rebelling against the substance in his body. He thrashed around in confusion, batting against several varieties of underwater plant life pointlessly. Whatever was on his ankle wasn't letting go. He could feel his consciousness slipping away from him like evaporating mist…

He felt another tug at his arm that gave his consciousness another dose of adrenaline. He pulled fiercely with his arm and leg, putting as much power behind his skinny, battered body as he could. He knew there was nothing he could do though. He felt like the two forces were trying to pull him apart…

He felt his consciousness slipping away once again…

This time it got away from him.

* * *

His thoughts and sensations started bubbling back to his body slowly. Somehow, he had survived yet again…

His body was freezing, but he felt a firm, warm pressure against his lips. He felt his lungs feeling and with them more sensation throughout his body and mind.

His body suddenly convulsed, and he broke into a coughing fit. The pressure on his lips was removed, and instead he felt his body pulled up and felt pressure from all sides. His body convulsed a few more times before slowly returning to its normal state. He felt tired. Extremely tired.

He opened his eyes slowly and saw the bank of the river in front of him. He had gotten out. Actually… Probably pulled out…

By Doumeki.

And if Doumeki pulled him out…

Then that pressure…

Must have been…

Watanuki gulped.

He turned his head to the side and sure enough…

Broad shoulders, lightly tanned skin, surprisingly slim but tone muscles….

Doumeki's naked torso.

With his naked arms.

Around Watanuki's naked body.

Which he had just finished making out with.

Watanuki felt something crack in his brain and he immediately jump up screaming.

"OH MY GOD WHAT DID YOU JUST DO TO MY BODY!"

Doumeki started, looking alarmed.

"YOU RAPIST! YOU MAD RAPIST!" Watanuki suddenly started running, trying to get as far away from the current situation as possible. But Doumeki was immediately up and chasing him, easily catching up.

"Get away from me you perverted bastard! You will not defile my body again!" Watanuki doubled his pace, but again it was futile. He felt Doumeki's arms wrap around him and the front of his body press against the back of his.

"Unless you want to die," Doumeki said calmly into his ear, "you'll stop screaming and stay near me so you don't blow up."

Watanuki froze, realizing the point. His brain cracked again, feeling Doumeki's naked body press against his backside. This was…

No words could describe.

The humiliation…

"Dear god, please tell me that's not what I think it is," Watanuki moaned, feeling something press against him.

Doumeki let Watanuki free, deciding he wasn't going to make a break for it again. His spirit seemed somehow broken.

"Well," he said, "You were the one who decided to run…" He didn't seem to care very much at all.

"For the love of… Just put some clothes one…" groaned Watanuki. He clutched his head in his hands. "I'm scarred for life you hear me! Life! I'll never be the same! I've been contaminated! Ruined goods…"

Watanuki droned on about how miserable his life was going to be from there out as Doumeki stare at him curiously.

"You do know you're still naked, right?" remarked Doumeki, one eyebrow lifting slightly.

Watanuki blushed furiously, attempting very miserably to cover his entire body with his hands. "STOP RAPING ME WITH YOUR EYEBALLS YOU SICK BASTARD!" Realizing his current defence was futile, he took off towards the stream again where he had left clothing with Doumeki following not far behind.

This, Watanuki decided, was going to be a miserable adventure.

* * *

Yeah, I know... I never post... This is just a little way of saying sorry for being... There's a word for someone who never finishes anything they start, right?


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